Google Highlights Life-Changing Pixel Feature in BTS Video for Super Bowl Ad

What do you want to know

• Google is releasing a Super Bowl ad this year that follows the story of a blind man and his girlfriend while highlighting the Guided Frame feature.
• On Pixel phones, Guided Frame uses artificial intelligence to help people who are blind or visually impaired take photos.
• The behind-the-scenes clip from the ad’s production process shows how Guided Frame can change the lives of visually impaired people.

After introducing Guided Frame as a way for visually impaired or blind users to capture great photos in 2022, Google will highlight the feature in a Super Bowl ad this year. We now get a better look at how the feature helps visually impaired users in a behind-the-scenes video from the ad.

Guided Frame debuted alongside the Pixel 7 series, but remained the focus of the Pixel 8 series. New to this year’s Pixel phones is the ability to use Guided Frame on the rear camera system. Previously, this was limited to the front camera.

The ad, shot by blind director Adam Morse, follows people using Guided Frame on Pixel to capture moments. However, it’s important to note that Pixel phones weren’t actually used to film the ad itself: professional cameras and equipment were used for this purpose.

Morse aimed to try to convey the experiences of blindness and low vision to sighted people. Part of this effort involved using Vaseline on camera lenses to create a visual distortion similar to that experienced by Morse.

“I do my best to translate an experience of blindness that feels authentic to me, that can also be accessible to sighted people,” Morse said in the BTS video.

Guided Frame uses object detection and non-visual cues to help visually impaired people take good photos. The cues include audio instructions, such as: “Wait for a photo,” “Move your phone down,” and “A face in the frame.” Guided Frame can also provide users with haptic feedback and display high-contrast visuals that may be seen by some blind or visually impaired people.

When initially developing the feature, Google worked directly with blind people, as the company explained in a 2022 report. blog post.

“Blind and visually impaired testers helped us identify and develop the ideal combination of alternative sensory feedback of audio signals, haptics and vibrations, intuitive high-contrast sound and visual elements,” said Lingeng Wang, manager of the technical program at Google. works on product inclusion and accessibility.

This year, Google explained how Guided Frame now works with objects other than people in a separate space. blog post about Pixel 8 series cameras.

You can watch the entire commercial during Super Bowl LVIII, which sees the San Francisco 49ers take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Las Vegas on February 11, 2024.